Sarwan is surprise casualty

Ramnaresh Sarwan, Jerome Taylor and Denesh Ramdin have been demoted from the West Indies contract list while Kieron Pollard and Adrian Barath have been promoted to full deals. The fitness of Sarwan, a former captain, and Narsingh Deonarine was “deemed unsatisfactory” by the selectors while Taylor, the fast bowler, was not helped by his limited availability following a back injury.

Sarwan, who was most recently affected by a hamstring problem, has not played a Test since 2009 and he has appeared in four ODIs and seven Twenty20s this year. He has a top score of 100 not out against Ireland but he was less effective when facing the better teams. Taylor was sent home from the tour of Australia late last year with back stress fractures and has made only nine limited-overs appearances since then.

The wicket-keeper Ramdin and Travis Dowlin, the batsman who has played six Tests, were cut from the list due to poor form. “Ramdin and Dowlin’s performances over the past year have been less than favourable in the view of the selection committee,” a board spokesman said.

There was better news for Pollard, Barath, Darren Bravo, Shane Shillingford, Nikita Miller and Nelon Pascal, who were given their first central contracts. Pollard has become an international star for his big hitting and medium pace in the limited-overs arenas while Barath, 20, showed his potential with a Test century on debut against Australia last year.

The players have until 10 September to accept the offers. Those outside the contract list are still able to represent West Indies.